Often referred to as Syria's lost generation, at least three million children have been forced to abandon school since the civil war started in 2011. Over two million children are estimated to be out of school inside Syria itself. In Jordan, the EU's European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, through the funding of humanitarian organisations, help thousands of children get back into school.

This evaluation provides an independent assessment of the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations’ (DG ECHO’s) interventions in the humanitarian health sector during the period 2014 to 2016. The evaluation, launched by DG ECHO in November 2016, was carried out by ICF Consulting Services Ltd, with specialist inputs from humanitarian aid and health experts.

Heavy fighting in southern Syria raises concern on the fate of some 45 000 people who are stranded in Hadalat and Rukban at the border between Syria and Jordan, with very limited access to resources and health services. It is estimated that more than half of those people are children, 80% of whom are affected by diarrhea that is threatening their lives.

Entering its seventh year of conflict, Syria has triggered the world's largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Internal displacements of population persist and the number of refugees has passed the 5-million mark as fighting continues in the country.

The war in Syria, one of the worst humanitarian crises the world has faced since World War II, continues to have devastating and tragic consequences for its people. It is also having an increasingly destabilising impact on the wider region, through the displacement of people, the spread of terrorism, the exacerbation of political and sectarian differences.

Zaatari camp is situated near the city of Mafraq in northern Jordan, it is the largest camp of its kind in the world outside of Africa. At its peak it had about 120 000 inhabitants. This number has now stabilised at about 80 000. It is a unique place with an atmosphere which takes you in from the moment you enter. Zaatari camp is more than that; it is also a bustling city with a main shopping street, schools, hospitals and even its own police. Its citizens are refugees, but refugees who paint their containers and send their kids to schools.

The Syria conflict has triggered the world's largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Humanitarian needs are huge, population displacement persists and fighting continues in many parts of the country. In Aleppo and in other areas of the country the scale of destruction is massive; needs for basic services, protection, shelter and infrastructures are widespread in both urban and rural areas.

The full implementation of this version of the HIP is subject to the adoption of the decision amending Decision C(2015) 8936 final and conditional upon the necessary appropriations being made available from the 2016 general budget of the European Union.

During the week of 5 August, thanks to an agreement between the Government of Jordan (GoJ) and the UN, and under a significant deployment of military troops, food and hygiene supplies were delivered to the population stranded at Ruqban and Hadalat along the border with Syria in northeast Jordan (area known as 'the berm'). It was the first food delivery since the Jordanian authorities closed the border area after a suicide bombing attack killed several persons during an humanitarian aid distribution in Ruqban on the 21 June.

Following an agreement between the Government of Jordan and UN agencies, the organization of food aid distribution for more than 70 000 Syrians stranded at the north-eastern border with Syria is under way. After a suicide bombing on 21 June near the makeshift desert camp around the Ruqban border crossing point, the Jordanian authorities closed access to the border area to humanitarian organizations. While the delivery of water to families was rapidly restored and continues, food aid distribution and basic healthcare services have since been on hold.

Abdallah, 11, was injured in a bombing raid in Syria. He is now paraplegic and lives with his mother, brothers and sisters in a shelter for refugees in Lebanon. Since he arrived in the Bekaa Valley in September 2015, he is followed by a Handicap International team, who is helping him to gradually recover and adapt to his new situation. The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) has partnered with Handicap International to help Syrians in several refugee-hosting countries with physical and psycho-social support.

Providing access to clean water in sufficient quantities is essential to sustain life and promote health in emergency and crisis situations. Basic sanitation and appropriate hygiene behavior and management are essential conditions to create a safe living environment.

The European Commission is one of the largest humanitarian donors in providing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance with almost €120 million alone allocated in 2015 to projects in this sector.

Today the European Commission announces €445 million in humanitarian aid for the Syria crisis in 2016. The support is part of the Commission's pledge made at the conference 'Supporting Syria and the Region' held earlier this year in London, where the EU and the Member States pledged over €3 billion to assist the Syrian people this year.

45 000 Syrian asylum seekers remain stranded along the northeast border area between Jordan and Syria, according to Jordanian authorities. As of 8 March, UNHCR had registered 28 691 individuals – 25 631 at the Ruqban border crossing point and 3 060 at the Hadalat crossing.